The Problem and Opportunity of Abandoned Cable

Code requirements and liability issues mean new business for consultants and contractors. BY CRAIG L. GILIAN
For building owners, abandoned cable is a nightmare waiting to happen. Much of the older cabling presents a fuel load that is close to that of gasoline. Cable not only burns, but it emits toxic smoke that in many ways is more dangerous to building occupants and emergency responders than the fire itself. Besides the obvious and more important lifesafety issues, abandoned cable presents other problems and can lead to financial stress for building owners. As removal of unused cable gains more teeth as local jurisdictions adopt the National Electrical Code (NEC), owners may be unpleasantly surprised when the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) refuses an occupancy permit for a new tenant due to presence of abandoned cable.

While not yet a factor, cabling fuel loads in buildings could cause insurance inspectors to require removal of abandoned cabling. Worse, it is conceivable that insurance claims could be denied if a building is found to have been in violation of local code requirements. Other less noticed problems are that abandoned cable takes up pathway space and can act as an antenna when commingled with active cabling infrastructure, degrading network performance. The bottom line is that most building owners really dont know what abandoned cable means. This is where you come in, because both consultants and contractors can provide valuable services to a building owner in determining the extent of the problem, recommending a course of action and facilitating removal of cable. In short, abandoned cable represents revenue opportunities for information transport systems (ITS) professionals.

Motivating Owners to Act

Cabling abatement is a labor intensive and expensive process. As expected, cost is usually the main reason why building owners choose to refrain from an abatement project until they are forced to do so. Attention to the problem usually occurs when an inspector is called to the site during renovation and occupancy is refused. Now the owner faces a rushed and probably more expensive cable abatement project, especially for larger, multitenant buildings. As noted above, another motivation for owners to act is the insurance industry. The cable abatement issue is about fuel loads in buildings. With thousands of pounds of gasolineequivalent material in ceilings, the insurance industry may be wondering if older buildings are more at risk. So far, the insurance industry has not established a pattern showing if cable contributes to the spread of fire, damage to property and loss of life. If the actuaries figure this out, they may show that buildings dont burn as hot or as much when unused cabling is removed. Owners that can show proof of cable abatement may qualify for lower insurance premiums.

Still, who pays for cable abatement? Is it the tenant or the building owner? It depends. Without clear provisions spelled out in a lease, a tenant that is leaving can probably vacate without removing cable from their space. If the building is in a town with high occupancy rates, the owner can probably include lease requirements that the

Feature
Bidding a Cabling Inventory Project
One vendor reports that for an inventory project, 15 minutes per cable to identify, label, record in a spread sheet, and document on AutoCAD is a fair estimate. This assumes the owner provides the backgrounds, with the floor plans showing all rooms and room numbers. If there are 2,000 cables to identify, this is about 500 billable hours. At $30 per hour, that amounts to $15,000. The going hourly rate for this work varies. Typically, larger jobs will command a smaller hourly rate. Fees may range from $30 to $50 per hour. While time and materials is preferable to the contractor, it has less appeal to the owner as they must contain costs of maintaining their building to keep it profitable. For building owners, abandoned cable is a nightmare waiting to happen. Much of the older cabling presents a fuel load that is close to that of gasoline. Cable not only burns, but it emits toxic smoke that in many ways is more dangerous to building occupants and emergency responders than the fire itself. Besides the obvious and more important life-safety issues, abandoned cable presents other problems and can lead to financial stress for building owners. As removal of unused cable gains more teeth as local jurisdictions adopt the National Electrical Code (NEC), owners may be unpleasantly surprised when the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) refuses an occupancy permit for a new tenant due to presence of abandoned cable.

While not yet a factor, cabling fuel loads in buildings could cause insurance inspectors to require removal of abandoned cabling. Worse, it is conceivable that insurance claims could be denied if a building is found to have been in violation of local code requirements. Other less noticed problems are that abandoned cable takes up pathway space and can act as an antenna when commingled with active cabling infrastructure, degrading network performance. The bottom line is that most building owners really dont know what abandoned cable means. This is where you come in, because both consultants and contractors can provide valuable services to a building owner in determining the extent of the problem, recommending a course of action and facilitating removal of cable. In short, abandoned cable represents revenue opportunities for information transport systems (ITS) professionals.

Motivating Owners to Act

Cabling abatement is a labor intensive and expensive process. As expected, cost is usually the main reason why building owners choose to refrain from an abatement project until they are forced to do so. Attention to the problem usually occurs when an inspector is called to the site during renovation and occupancy is refused. Now the owner faces a rushed and probably more expensive cable abatement project, especially for larger, multitenant buildings. As noted above, another motivation for owners to act is the insurance industry. The cable abatement issue is about fuel loads in buildings. With thousands of pounds of gasolineequivalent material in ceilings, the insurance industry may be wondering if older buildings are more at risk. So far, the insurance industry has not established a pattern showing if cable contributes to the spread of fire, damage to property and loss of life. If the actuaries figure this out, they may show that buildings dont burn as hot or as much when unused cabling is removed. Owners that can show proof of cable abatement may qualify for lower insurance premiums. Still, who pays for cable abatement? Is it the tenant or the building owner? It depends. Without clear provisions spelled out in a lease, a tenant that is leaving can probably vacate without removing cable from their space. If the building is in a town with high occupancy rates, the owner can probably include lease requirements that the

Feature
incoming tenant must remove all abandoned cable. However, when the occupancy rate is low, the building owner may be forced to pay for removal of cable prior to the new tenant moving in. Owners should consider placing a provision in leases that require tenants to remove their cable at the time of vacating their space. Deposits against this work being performed are being discussed among property managers across the country. Of course, if a prospective tenant will utilize building space as is, with no renovation, then no building permits are required and no inspections occur. This only delays the inevitable and still presents liability for the owner in the event of a fire. Fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) have always been an effective motivator for anyone to take action. Building owners are no different. Helping owners remove their potential liabilities is a strong incentive for an owner to undertake a cable abatement project.

Finding and Defining the Work

Building owners can hire a consultant or contractor for a cable abatement project. While the consultant and cabling contractor each bring their own fields of expertise, both must consult with a building owner on the condition of the owners building and its condition with regards to cabling. Both must conduct an initial survey to assess the general need for cable abatement and make recommendations about the next step in the process.

The consultants main selling point is that there is no perceived agenda with regards to being hired to remove cable. That perceived objectivity is valuable. Yet consultants do not remove cable and some owners may feel they can save money by working directly with a contractora plan that has merit, as long as the contractor has experience with cable abatement projects. In general, smaller, single tenant buildings may require less planning. However, larger, multi-tenant buildings require detailed planning so that the abatement process goes smoothly and does not take any tenants voice and data circuits out of service. Consultants may find work by reading newspapers for upcoming projects and speaking directly with managers of larger buildings. For the contractor, the best source for projects may be with existing customers. Like the consultant, the contractor must consider a number of factors and steps when preparing for the abatement process. The process becomes complicated by the fact that many buildings have multiple tenants. Obtaining access to their spaces may not be able to be accomplished in a time-efficient manner and should be factored in when considering a quote. Both consultants and contractors should be prepared to bring literature and pictures to help educate building owners and managers. This may require a number of visits, gradually bringing about awareness that it is in the best interest of the building owner to be proactive. It is important for both the consultant and the contractor to realize that planning is essential for any cable abatement project. Once the scope and detail of the project is revealed, few owners would ever want to tackle an abatement project on their own. Of course, they will hire you. Once retained, your services might include the following: Preliminary Survey of all areas of the building to ascertain the buildings cabling condition. Output is an existing condition report on findings with recommendations with all supporting documentation (for consultant or contractor). Detailed Survey or Request for Proposal (RFP) providing inventory of all installed cabling, including status (inuse, future use, abandoned), termination, length, location and type (consultant). Vendor Selection. The RFP is created for purposes of soliciting bids. It would spell out the scope of work and products required. The RFP responses would be reviewed with a summary of responses and recommendation on the bid award (consultant). Construction Documents (drawings and specifications) would be generated for larger buildings. These documents spell out procedures and products the contractor must produce in addition to the abatement process itself (consultant).

Post-Abatement Documents in the form of cable records, cable pathway availability, firestop status, resources on issues of cable fire safety, and recommendations for future infrastructure management practices are provided to the building owner. There are many details in the cable abatement planning process that a consultant and contractor must consider: owner introduction to abatement; define scope for survey only, abatement only or both; contract; notification procedures; survey for existing conditions; abatement preparation for inventory; document production; and close out. See Planning List for Cable Abatement Project for more details.

Conclusion
Abandoned cable presents a life-safety issue for occupants and emergency responders. Because removal of this cable is a requirement of the National Electrical Code , it may represent a legal liability and health safety issue as well as a financial obligation to building owners.

18 Advancing Information Transport Systems www.bicsi.org BICSINEWS March/April 2006 19 Both the consultant and contractor offer tremendous value to owners facing a cable abatement project. The actual tagging and removal of cable is expensive and potentially disruptive, both of which can be magnified without proper planning. By providing owners with careful analysis and a plan for an abatement project, problems during the actual project will be minimized and the expense of the project will be contained. .

Bidding a Cabling Inventory Project

One vendor reports that for an inventory project, 15 minutes per cable to identify, label, record in a spread sheet, and document on AutoCAD is a fair estimate. This assumes the owner provides the backgrounds, with the floor plans showing all rooms and room numbers. If there are 2,000 cables to identify, this is about 500 billable hours. At $30 per hour, that amounts to $15,000. The going hourly rate for this work varies. Typically, larger jobs will command a smaller hourly rate. Fees may range from $30 to $50 per hour. While time and materials is preferable to the contractor, it has less appeal to the owner as they must contain costs of maintaining their building to keep it profitable.

Planning List for Cable Abatement Project

Owner Introduction to Abatement

Meet with owner to discuss the requirement and need for abatement Define Scope (Survey and/or Abatement) Meet with owner to discuss the procedures Review scope of work and fee

Contract
Obtain drawings from owner or create drawings of spaces in building Positively identify spaces to inventory and for abatement Write down scope of work and fee in simple contract Itemize in detail all products or deliverables produced for owner Set days and times for inventory Establish notification procedures for all tenants Schedule access to tenant IT rooms Estimate time line for completion of survey or inventory Determine extent and type of report on results of survey or inventory Does owner require a schematic design of the communications distribution systems in the building? Agree on schedule of progress reports at regular intervals for the project

Survey
Create a list of spaces with cabling with name and room number List pathways throughout building with from and to information Create spreadsheet of cable types and room number of location List all spaces that cables travel through with unique identifiers for each space Meet with owner to review inventory findings and scope of the work

Abatement Prep Work (Inventory)

Tag and inventory abandoned cable and equipment in riser, telecommunication rooms and plenum areas

 Create a list of spaces with cabling with name and room number List pathways throughout building with from and to information Label each cable and piece of equipment to remain with permanent labels Tag with red tags all cables to be removed at both ends Clearly identify cables by room and end point

(room number) of opposite end of cable

Use TIA/EIA 606A as the model for the labeling scheme Identify all active circuits in the building Label circuits and circuit owners Ascertain if a review of rooftop and wireless facilities is necessary Create spreadsheet of cables and equipment to remain Tag cables and equipment with unique identifiers and room number of location List all spaces that cables travel through with unique identifiers for each space Meet with owner to review inventory findings and scope of the work Review with owner all active circuits and the quantity of cabling that should be abated Determine with owner the prioritization of work Create a schedule for the cable removal with dates and spaces that the cable will be removed from Verify contact names and numbers for tenants and the procedures for abatement in their spaces Determine if any cabling should be tagged for future use Contact service providers to discuss the abatement process with regards to their cables Meet with service providers to finalize the

abatement process and any requirements they have or the building owner has with regards to the cable removal Contact tenants about the abatement schedule and how it may affect them. If abatement process will require entry into tenants space, arrange for access and review sequence and procedures Summary of inventory and materials and equipment to be removed Recommend owner conduct a review of existing telecommunications lease and license agreements Recommend owner conduct a survey of building tenants to determine current use and future needs

Closeout
Once the survey or inventory project is complete, close-out documents such as findings, relevant codes that are important and that affect the owner, recommendations for correction, photos, cost estimates on differing levels of remediation, potential hazardous materials with applicable codes, adequacy of fire stop systems and others should be provided.